This single-set performance was part of the 2nd annual Doctor Music Festival that also featured Blues Traveler, Alice Cooper, Megadeth, Jim Rose, and Smashing Pumpkins. Trey teased Lazy in Johnny B. Goode. YEM contained a Wolfman's Brother tease from Trey and the vocal jam was partially based on I Wish.

Show Reviews

The final show of the '97 European Summer Tour brings us to Spain for the first time, and is a Festival Set. The Chalkdust opener is typically-great, and even gets a little spacey a few minutes in with a dissonant climb up the Type II ladder. Bouncing is standard, before Stash breaks us out of the box again. Though this Stash isn't completely ground-breaking, it does reach a similar dark, repetitive space that the early Chalkdust does. It fades into this space and stays there for a couple minutes before slowly building back up towards the final, typical outro. The reason this version likely doesn't warrant inclusion on the jamming chart (despite its length) is that though it does start to go Type II, it is a little monotonous once it gets there without morphing into anything too far out. The "every other" theme continues with BomD, which is short and well-played, before the alternating long-short theme continues with an extended Wolfman's. Wolfman's was basically a standard, short, Type I tune until 4 months earlier in Hamburg, when the tune changed forevermore. Now it's a minimum 10 minute funk-fest, and this version is no different really -- considering how awesome this Wolfman's is, it's definitely of note that this only the 4th jammed out version! Wolfman's builds and builds and builds, eventually moving from funk towards blues before modulating and dropping appropriately into JBG. This is a typical raging JBG, with a cool Foxey Lady-intro-like outro. And continuing the long-short alternation of the set, we get a YEM set closer! This YEM has an awesome Wolfman's tease in it, and brings the FUNK. Once again, we see the building blocks of Fall tour being connected, which would ultimately produce the Greatest Tour in the History of Rock and Roll. This YEM is just fine, nothing extraordinary, but definitely funky. The Zer0 that closes the set is similar -- about as good as most Zer0es -- but Page does some interesting organ work in the middle of the jam that nicely complements Trey's extra watery guitar effects and Fishman's screaming. The encore caps off a fine set and a promising tour, but two weeks later, Phish would be back on US soil, telling everyone the Story of the Ghost... and things would never be the same.

Despite this being a 1-set festival appearance, it holds up very well. Chalk Dust and Bouncing are played in their usual crowd-pleasing manner, and the Stash in the 3 spot is excellent. Midway through the jam, it veers off into a different, yet still tense direction and makes a nice return to the Stash theme. Trey uses his wah pedal to make some cool effects in the jam too. After a bluegrass break with Beauty of my Dreams, Wolfman's starts a really strong set-ending segment. Wolfman's gets a good funk workout and then rocks into JBG, which then slams directly into a sweet YEM with a catchy theme. Great concise show here. Listen to the Stash, Wolfman's and YEM.

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